Wasatch Advisors LP Reduces Stock Position in Shift4 Payments, Inc. $FOUR

Wasatch Advisors LP reduced its position in shares of Shift4 Payments, Inc. (NYSE:FOUR) by 38.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,206,244 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,572,681 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors LP owned 5.18% of Shift4 Payments worth $183,939,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Shift4 Payments by 100.0% during the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 434 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in Shift4 Payments in the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. Vestcor Inc purchased a new stake in Shift4 Payments in the third quarter worth about $45,000. Summer Road LLC purchased a new stake in Shift4 Payments in the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Shift4 Payments by 282.2% in the third quarter. Johnson Financial Group Inc. now owns 646 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 477 shares during the period. 98.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Shift4 Payments Price Performance

Shares of FOUR opened at $47.62 on Friday. Shift4 Payments, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $34.56 and a fifty-two week high of $108.50. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $42.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $51.41. The stock has a market cap of $3.78 billion, a PE ratio of 56.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.55, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.22.

Shift4 Payments (NYSE:FOUR) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.99 by ($0.02). Shift4 Payments had a net margin of 2.63% and a return on equity of 33.55%. The business had revenue of $1.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.09 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.07 earnings per share. Shift4 Payments’s revenue for the quarter was up 49.0% on a year-over-year basis. Shift4 Payments has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.500-5.700 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Shift4 Payments, Inc. will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. DA Davidson reduced their target price on Shift4 Payments from $82.00 to $74.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Evercore set a $45.00 target price on Shift4 Payments in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Shift4 Payments from $77.00 to $55.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on Shift4 Payments from $73.00 to $65.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Shift4 Payments from $50.00 to $46.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Shift4 Payments has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $68.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Jared Isaacman acquired 195,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $41.41 per share, for a total transaction of $8,095,655.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider owned 1,594,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $66,026,381.55. This represents a 13.97% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.54% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Shift4 Payments

Shift4 Payments is a U.S.-based provider of integrated payment processing and technology solutions, serving merchants across the hospitality, retail, e-commerce, gaming and lodging industries. The company’s platform enables businesses to accept in-store, online and mobile payments through a combination of point-of-sale hardware, payment gateway services and back-office software. By centralizing transaction processing and reporting, Shift4 aims to simplify payments, enhance security and streamline operations for its merchant customers.

The company’s core offerings include encrypted point-of-sale terminals, cloud-based payment gateways, and developer-friendly APIs for online and mobile checkouts.